Short Story You don’t really appreciate what you have until it’s gone. Thinking back to when my great-grandfather passed away, I wish I had spent more time with him. As I grew older I began to see him less and less. Now I can’t see him anymore. Today, I am listening to my mother and grandmother tell the stories of my great-grandfather’s life. I can remember one Thanksgiving when he told one of his stories. We called my great-grandfather “Pop Pop” and he was a great raconteur. He fought in World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart. To me, and to many others as well, he was a true hero. You are awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded or killed during a war. But Pop Pop was a humble and honorable man and would not accept this award. He felt that there were other soldiers who disserved it more and I believe that says a lot about who he was. Many of his stories were about the war and events that happened to him while he was on active duty. Pop Pop, the great storyteller, was about to tell his most exciting story yet. On this particular day, my family was sitting together at the table in the dining room. It was Thanksgiving and my mother had been cooking for days. You could smell the turkey cooking in the oven and my grandmother’s stuffing sitting on the counter. My sister and I always had to set the table and we ran back and forth from the refrigerator with filled water glasses trying not to spill anything. Our dining room was decorated with flowers and red linens for our big meal. We talked and waited for both sides of the family to arrive. Finally everyone was here and we sat down at the table while my mother brought over the food. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, bread and butter, and so much more. I sat in the same seat that I do every year and this time, Pop Pop sat across from me with my grandmother next to him. Little did I know that less than five minutes into the meal, he would have everyone gathered intrigued by one of his stories. It all started because someone had been complaining that the summer had been too hot and very rainy. “Oh do you want to hear about hot and rainy?” Pop Pop started. “Here we go…” My uncle muttered under his breath, rolled his eyes, and then gave a little laugh. “When I was in Burma, during the war, it was always raining and hot.” “How hot?” I asked. “About 90 degrees! You stepped into the sun and would start sweating. The rain was horrible too because Burma is in Asia’s monsoon region.” Pop Pop replied. He was a walking encyclopedia, full of information; you just had to take the time to listen. “One night while my unit (the most traveled unit in the army) was in Burma we had to open fire. It was pitch black outside and you couldn’t even see your own hand in front of your face. It was still very hot outside even though the sun was long past setting. It was about midnight and we were just heading in for some sleep.” Everyone had put down their forks, abandoned their meal, and all eyes were on Pop Pop. He had a way of telling stories that made everyone drop what they were doing to listen. “We were all tired and just wanted to get to sleep after a long day, but then I started to hear noises.” He continued on and with each word he painted a picture. “None of us could see anything and then there was a noise that I couldn’t make out. I decided to wait to see if it would continue. I felt blind and helpless in the dark.” “You couldn’t see what was makin’ the noise?” My sister asked. “I couldn’t see anything!” Pop Pop answered. We couldn’t help but to laugh, just imagine a group of soldiers trying to feel around in the dark because they couldn’t see a thing. Pop Pop continued “Well since there was a war going on, my unit had to be careful. It was pitch black and the middle of the night, a perfect time for the enemy to attack. We tried to surround the area where the sound was coming from while trying to be as quiet as possible. Everyone was calm; we were all trained for this sort of thing. Exhausted, we gather our weapons and with hearts pounding we decided to open fire. We were certain it was the enemy.” “How did you know it was them?” I questioned. “I thought it just had to be and I thought there were a lot of them because the noise grew louder and louder. Maybe a hundred?” Pop Pop replied. I was amazed. It must have been scary having enemy soldiers come to attack you during the night I thought to myself. “What happened? What happened?” My sister asked as I too was intrigued. “After we open fired, I had to go and see if we had successfully hit the enemy. We were still surrounding the noise and by myself, I went to see what had happened.” The same question was on everyone’s mind, what did he find? “Once I could finally see, I realized that my unit had just taken down a huge, 11,000 pound, elephant!” We all laughed, once again picturing what Pop Pop had told us. A trained army unit just took down a huge elephant thinking it was the enemy. How many times do you get to hear a story about that? Even though Pop Pop is no longer with us, my family and I still remember and celebrate his life. He was a great man and I wish I had gotten to see him more often. The lesson I took from of this experience is that sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone, so be thankful for what you have and don’t take it for granted.
You don’t really appreciate what you have until it’s gone. Thinking back to when my great-grandfather passed away, I wish I had spent more time with him. As I grew older I began to see him less and less. Now I can’t see him anymore. Today, I am listening to my mother and grandmother tell the stories of my great-grandfather’s life.
I can remember one Thanksgiving when he told one of his stories. We called my great-grandfather “Pop Pop” and he was a great raconteur. He fought in World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart. To me, and to many others as well, he was a true hero. You are awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded or killed during a war. But Pop Pop was a humble and honorable man and would not accept this award. He felt that there were other soldiers who disserved it more and I believe that says a lot about who he was. Many of his stories were about the war and events that happened to him while he was on active duty. Pop Pop, the great storyteller, was about to tell his most exciting story yet.
On this particular day, my family was sitting together at the table in the dining room. It was Thanksgiving and my mother had been cooking for days. You could smell the turkey cooking in the oven and my grandmother’s stuffing sitting on the counter. My sister and I always had to set the table and we ran back and forth from the refrigerator with filled water glasses trying not to spill anything. Our dining room was decorated with flowers and red linens for our big meal. We talked and waited for both sides of the family to arrive. Finally everyone was here and we sat down at the table while my mother brought over the food. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, bread and butter, and so much more. I sat in the same seat that I do every year and this time, Pop Pop sat across from me with my grandmother next to him. Little did I know that less than five minutes into the meal, he would have everyone gathered intrigued by one of his stories. It all started because someone had been complaining that the summer had been too hot and very rainy.
“Oh do you want to hear about hot and rainy?” Pop Pop started.
“Here we go…” My uncle muttered under his breath, rolled his eyes, and then gave a little laugh.
“When I was in Burma, during the war, it was always raining and hot.”
“How hot?” I asked.
“About 90 degrees! You stepped into the sun and would start sweating. The rain was horrible too because Burma is in Asia’s monsoon region.” Pop Pop replied. He was a walking encyclopedia, full of information; you just had to take the time to listen.
“One night while my unit (the most traveled unit in the army) was in Burma we had to open fire. It was pitch black outside and you couldn’t even see your own hand in front of your face. It was still very hot outside even though the sun was long past setting. It was about midnight and we were just heading in for some sleep.”
Everyone had put down their forks, abandoned their meal, and all eyes were on Pop Pop. He had a way of telling stories that made everyone drop what they were doing to listen.
“We were all tired and just wanted to get to sleep after a long day, but then I started to hear noises.” He continued on and with each word he painted a picture. “None of us could see anything and then there was a noise that I couldn’t make out. I decided to wait to see if it would continue. I felt blind and helpless in the dark.”
“You couldn’t see what was makin’ the noise?” My sister asked.
“I couldn’t see anything!” Pop Pop answered.
We couldn’t help but to laugh, just imagine a group of soldiers trying to feel around in the dark because they couldn’t see a thing.
Pop Pop continued “Well since there was a war going on, my unit had to be careful. It was pitch black and the middle of the night, a perfect time for the enemy to attack. We tried to surround the area where the sound was coming from while trying to be as quiet as possible. Everyone was calm; we were all trained for this sort of thing. Exhausted, we gather our weapons and with hearts pounding we decided to open fire. We were certain it was the enemy.”
“How did you know it was them?” I questioned.
“I thought it just had to be and I thought there were a lot of them because the noise grew louder and louder. Maybe a hundred?” Pop Pop replied. I was amazed. It must have been scary having enemy soldiers come to attack you during the night I thought to myself.
“What happened? What happened?” My sister asked as I too was intrigued.
“After we open fired, I had to go and see if we had successfully hit the enemy. We were still surrounding the noise and by myself, I went to see what had happened.”
The same question was on everyone’s mind, what did he find?
“Once I could finally see, I realized that my unit had just taken down a huge, 11,000 pound, elephant!”
We all laughed, once again picturing what Pop Pop had told us. A trained army unit just took down a huge elephant thinking it was the enemy. How many times do you get to hear a story about that?
Even though Pop Pop is no longer with us, my family and I still remember and celebrate his life. He was a great man and I wish I had gotten to see him more often. The lesson I took from of this experience is that sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone, so be thankful for what you have and don’t take it for granted.